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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30081723">An Abundance of Love</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagpieMorality/pseuds/OldMagpie'>OldMagpie (MagpieMorality)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Old Guard (Movie 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Victorian, Booker and Nicky are soft pseudo-family, Brothels, Damn right it's cute, Destiny, Explicit Sexual Content, Fake London Geography, Feminization, First Meetings, First Time, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Sexual Content, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani and Nicky | Nicolò di Genova are in Love, M/M, Meet-Cute, Nicky wears a corset and makeup, Sex Work, Yusuf just really loves and supports him very much, i love that that is a tag, not historically accurate</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 11:08:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,804</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30081723</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagpieMorality/pseuds/OldMagpie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Yusuf is a hard-working cab driver in Victorian London. After an especially long day he ventures to the Ladies Lace brothel to seek out his dearest love; Nicky, who works as a prostitute.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Booker | Sebastien le Livre &amp; Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>68</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>197</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Yusuf visits Nicky</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A few notes on the AU found at the end in case you want to know more going in!</p><p>Unbeta'd!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>See the thing is - the thing <em>is</em> - Yusuf is a devout man. He worships when he can between shifts and avoids the Devil's drink (though that's also because he's seen it bring great men to their knees all too often) and keeps halal. He washes and wears the right things and he stays true to every one of his guiding principles that he can, in a city that is not only not well set up for his religion but often actively against it.</p><p>With that in mind it's odd - to him and to his friends - that he spends so much time frequenting the Ladies' Lace brothel in Topham and Ware. It's in the seedier part of the already seedy borough, nestled in a sidestreet off the cramped Merriman's Lane. Yusuf knows it well from his routes during the day, and better from his trips back at night.</p><p>It's just that… Yusuf is somewhat, slightly, probably in love. With a working girl. Man? The exact terminology Nicky uses is often complicated and changes by the hour it seems, but Yusuf is always earnestly trying to keep up. Nicky is worth it.</p><p>Nicky is worth it when he wears his pretty corset and lovely rouge on his cheeks, with a big shiny ribbon bow in his hair. He's worth it when he wears his too-big linen shirt, with wide sleeves like an old fashioned dandy and his too-short wool trousers, bags and the remnants of kohl under his eyes from late nights at work. They don't often get to spend those hours together, either end of the night, because Yusuf isn't earning big money and Nicky is popular and therefore often too tired to make the trip to Yusuf's dingy, shared rooms almost an hour away on foot when the brothel closes in the small hours.</p><p>He still tries to visit at least once every few nights, just to say hello and share a drink with Nicky if he isn't occupied. It has been explained to him repeatedly that he is <em>pining</em> and that it's a little sad, to have let it go on so long without doing anything about it but Yusuf is being patient. He has a plan - he <em>does</em> have a plan truly - and it needs time to come to fruition. They've whispered about it in their few shared moments, going elsewhere so that Nicky can take his hard earned savings and switch to a daytime job, one that will provide a stabler life and one he can live at Yusuf's side. Somewhere they don't know the people, perhaps not a city but a smaller town for a change of pace. They are happy to be quiet, slow and peaceful together. The frenzied bustle of the city is well and all, but hardly a priority desire.</p><p>"Yusuf!" Nicky greets him tonight when he steps inside the brothel after the longest shift ever. Who knew that ferrying rich men and women from one side of the city to another to spare their expensive shoes and expensive feet would be so draining? Luckily Nicky always breathes life back into his lungs. He does so now with a sweet, chaste kiss. "I was hoping you would come. It's quiet tonight because there's a match at the grounds nearby."</p><p>"Then I am the luckiest man in the world to have made my way to you tonight," Yusuf replies, pressing their foreheads together. He slips his arms around Nicky's sides over his boned corset, playing with the laces at the back. The white, cotton bloomers that descend below it are soft and thin, and when he presses them flush to Nicky's skin Yusuf can feel the warmth of his body radiating from underneath. The paint on Nicky's face and the bow he uses to tie his hair are both present and correct and stunning, but tonight-</p><p>Yusuf whines mournfully. There's a rather large strip of silk covering Nicky's lovely neck.</p><p>"What's the matter my love?"</p><p>"You're covering up one of my favourite sights," Yusuf complains, pouting when his dearest love just laughs and hugs him tighter. He stumbles along to sit on a settee on one side of the room, settling under Nicky's weight with a happy sigh when Nicky drops into his lap. Booker waves over and sends them a few drinks from the bar - gin and tonic for Nicky and just tonic for Yusuf - his sharp eyes always flitting over the crowd to keep an eye on the working girls, even though they have a hired bruiser to forestall any funny business. "Change of look tonight?"</p><p>"It was a gift."</p><p>"Oh, from a handsome admirer?"</p><p>Nicky nods, eyes twinkling. "But I suspect he has forgotten all about it, judging by his reaction."</p><p>"Oh I-" Yusuf blinks, pointing at himself hesitantly. Nicky laughs, biting his lip, and nods. "Huh. Well I have good taste in silks to go with your beauty but I wish it was somewhere else."</p><p>"Then you have my permission to move it. Where would you prefer?"</p><p>Yusuf hums as he thinks, unpicking the knot and pulling the ribbon through it, trailing the end over Nicky's skin. His beloved tips his head back, parts his lips and sighs. He ends up shifting to get more comfortable, worming his way between Yusuf's legs, stretched out on the settee so he can tip his head back and gaze up at him. Yusuf kisses the tip of his nose and tugs the silk fully free, gliding it over Nicky's face and then down to his collarbones when his eyes flutter shut. The corset only just comes up to his nipples, coyly half-hidden behind the lace trim at the edge. As he breathes in and out they peek out and hide away again, a tempting tease. Yusuf trails the ribbon over them too, sliding it underneath the lace and along from side to side until Nicky squirms and huffs impatiently. He moves on, up again to tickle the hollow at the base of Nicky's throat, and then down the underside of a sensitive bicep, to Nicky's left wrist. "Here, I think. So you'll see it as well as feel it, and think of me."</p><p>"I always do, I have no need of ribbons for that."</p><p>"Indulge me."</p><p>"Anything, my love," Nicky agrees, instantly and breathlessly. His eyes are a warm, comfortable weight while Yusuf frowns in concentration, looping the silk around and around, tying the ends off in a neat bow with a soft sound of triumph. Then he lifts Nicky's wrist and presses a kiss to it.</p><p>Nicky replaces his wrist with his mouth in response, and they lose track of time for a while in sweet, adoring kisses.</p><p>"Nicky, sweetheart, work time," Booker calls eventually, disturbing their little shared bubble of love, nudging his head towards a man waiting by the bar. Nicky peels himself away and grants Yusuf a last sweet kiss before languidly strolling over to the already-dumbstruck customer. Yusuf can empathise with that. He bids his goodnight to Booker and catches Nicky's eyes over the shoulder of the man he's now draped over, smiling brightly and waving before heading off to get home to bed.</p><p>Another day richer, another day closer to their dream. And another day with the warmth of Nicky still lingering in his arms and lips. There cannot be a luckier man in the whole world.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Nicky is a sex worker in this little AU, and both dresses, and is referred to, as a 'girl'. He still identifies as a man. Despite planning to change professions later in life both he and Yusuf see his current work as a job like any other, no judgements are made.</p><p>There are a few more little pieces I will post up at some stage! It's been a hot minute since I posted anything not Majid/Mickey, and I felt the need to post something quick, so here you go!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Booker and Nicky, before Yusuf's visit</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The same night as Chapter 1, but earlier on - Nicky and Booker share time preparing for the shift ahead.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Earlier that same night, prior to Yusuf's arrival;</em>
</p><p> </p><p>"Do you think he'll come tonight?" Nicky asks, dabbing the colour onto his cheeks and lips in the mirror of his dressing table. Booker hums from behind him, concentrating on relacing Nicky's deep blue corset with its new laces, poking the ends through each eyelet, bottom to top, leaving the central loops long and ready to be knotted. They criss-cross over the thin chemise Nicky wears underneath to protect his skin, decorating the insubstantial cotton. It would do its job better if Nicky didn't always insist on pushing it down under the corset, complaining that it hid too much of his skin for him to work effectively. Booker smiles to himself, making a note to replace the soft cream he would inevitably end up passing over to Nicky to sort out any raw marks at the end of his shift. "I hope he does. You said it would be quiet?"</p><p>"I think so, chéri. At the very least you can have a little break for the night. Have you slept properly at all this week, hm?"</p><p>"Oh I couldn't! Yusuf said we would go to the park on Sunday afternoon. And I keep thinking about it, I can hardly bear to sleep." Nicky grins, besotted and sweet, into the mirror. Booker chuckles softly and tousles his hair, prompting a cry of protest. But it is only token - Nicky hasn't yet sorted his hair out so nothing is disturbed. "I want very much to see him. It's been <em>days</em> now."</p><p>Booker hums, carefully tightening the corset until it sits nicely flush, bracing Nicky's waist and ribcage snugly but with comfortable room to breathe. A teasing silhouette, a shapely thing, rather than a restriction. In Nicky's profession mobility is quite a priority after all. "How does it feel?" he asks just to soothe his own concern, running a finger over the top edge to check it isn't biting into his skin. Nicky twitches at the ticklish touch.</p><p>"Basta, Booker," he laughs, turning his head this way and that to check his makeup, fluttering his eyelashes at the man over his shoulder in the reflection. "Do I look nice?"</p><p>Booker squeezes his bare shoulder with a soft crinkle of his eyes. He considers, whether to reply 'yes of course' like he sometimes does or whether to tease. Tonight, with Nicky preening and also buoyed on the excitement of hoping for a visit from his One True Love, he goes for teasing. "If that mop you call hair is currently the fashion now then yes," he replies, plucking the ribbon Nicky needs out of reach before he can grab it.</p><p>He shifts away as Nicky lunges, trying to catch him, and ends up negotiating the ribbon's release in exchange for another one of the romance paperbacks Nicky is always bringing to read in quiet moments. Booker is ready with the comb as soon as Nicky asks for it and just smiles when Nicky's fingers nudge it back into his palm when he offers it out, wordlessly asking Booker to brush his hair. A treat for both of them to indulge in, and a last quiet moment before the night's work begins. </p><p>It's a pleasure, gently teasing apart the knots of Nicky's silky brown hair while Nicky hums and closes his eyes, resting his head on his folded arms, bowed over the dressing table peacefully. He keeps it well cared for but it still has a tendency to tangle throughout the day and is often little better than a bird's nest at the beginning of a shift, after he's spent the day restlessly asleep. A black velvet bow around a large portion, tied up on the crown of his head helps keep it from falling into disarray while he works. The front strands will still fall to frame his face, strong features turned from sharply striking to softly so by the feathery brush over his cheekbones. Nicky ties it in place himself and stands up, checking his stockings and doing a quick twirl, throwing out a greeting to another of the girls who bustles in to prepare for her own shift to start.</p><p>Last but not least is a final turn to Booker, tugging one of the strands that hang in his face with a bashful smile. "Am I ready?"</p><p>"Absolutely, sweetheart, absolutely. If Yusuf visits he will be blown away."</p><p>"Grazie, Booker!" Nicky sighs with a fond smile and sway of his shoulders, head tipping sideways to complete the effect. He squeezes Booker's upper arm and pecks Booker's bewhiskered cheek before hurrying off to get out onto the floor, perhaps a mite more eager than usual at the prospect of time spent with his beloved Yusuf. Booker isn't far behind, tidying up the dressing station and talking briefly to the other girl, and then heading out to join Nicky on the floor and start his own shift, behind the bar but always watching out for any funny business. If he watches Nicky a little more carefully than the rest - at least until Yusuf arrives - then that is to no one's surprise. </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you to all the amazing feedback, comments and kudos and whatnot from the previous chapter, I was truly blown away by it and treasure it all! I wlll end up replying to most of the comments at some stage but for now I just keep rereading and going all mushy hahahha</p><p>After this there is one more already written snippet (which will up the rating to E, oops?) and then who knows - if people still want to see more of these two lovebirds being wholesome and adoring and soft then the sandpit has been laid out for the playing in! Feel free to throw out ideas in the comments, this will be a bit of a piecemeal story done in scenes rather than chronologically, and I love filling prompts... :D </p><p>Booker and Nicky being platonically soft is, as always, dedicated to Soa :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Yusuf and Nicky's First Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jumping forwards again, to the first time Yusuf and Nicky manage to have some proper alone time together...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Iiiiiit's the sex chapter. And its about 4 times the length of either previous chapter, too. Enjoy!</p><p>Thanks to Luna for the clutch editing after I yeeted this out in about an hour and a half of very frantic sprinting!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>The first time they actually get anywhere is the night Yusuf announces he has enough money saved to think about booking them tickets to somewhere new. They're upstairs at the brothel and Nicky is all dressed up; Yusuf had also splurged a bit for the occasion and bought some of his sweetheart's working time. Nicky sits on the dressing table and swings his legs while they talk, but when Yusuf explains shyly that their new life is perhaps not so far away anymore, he gasps, cherry red lips a beautiful O.</p><p>"Can I kiss you?" Yusuf asks softly. Nicky nods and welcomes him in. The kiss goes from sweet to sensual in moments, unable to keep their hands off each other. It's not their first kiss, nor is it their first while Nicky is at work, but they've never had quite so much time stretching before them. Nicky's hands glide up his own thighs when Yusuf pulls back to consider him, peeling his skirts up and up until his bloomers are in view, and then the swell of his cock underneath them. He's so beautiful like this, all sweet and soft and just for Yusuf. </p><p>That makes it sound as though Yusuf is jealous of his time, but he cannot be. He can only feel overwhelming, glorious love for Nicky whenever he gets to see him. Yusuf is not <em>not</em> a jealous man, but his love for Nicky has been based on trust and mutual communication to such an extent that he has never once doubted that the man, even while working as a prostitute, loves him and only him. </p><p>"I love you," Nicky says quietly, underscoring his point, and Yusuf sighs, leaning in again to kiss him chastely. He lifts Nicky carefully down from the table and tugs him along by the hand to the bed, throwing his coat out over it, and helping Nicky to lie back on the warm wool. Nicky wriggles around to get comfortable and waits for Yusuf to close the distance between them, legs slotting in like the teeth of a gear, ready to turn them into one machine. Yusuf cannot deny the heat he feels at that thought, and kisses Nicky a little hotter, a little heavier, until he's panting underneath him. </p><p>Nicky blushes when Yusuf reaches for his clothes, peeling the skirts up and around his stomach, and massaging his knees, up to his thighs, before carefully and worshipfully parting his legs. The fabric has an opening for ease of access that Yusuf has certainly thought about before but never actually seen. It should feel indecent, and filthy, but the sight of Nicky's private parts peeking out shyly at him just makes his breath catch in his throat. He can see the puckered skin of his well-prepared hole, the delicate skin of his shaved sack above, and the base of his cock curving out of the way as he shifts, pushing the fabric up in a tent that only opens the parting further. </p><p>"Do you- what do you think? Do I please you?"</p><p>"Oh my heart, you could hardly <em>not</em>. The thought is... is unthinkable!" Yusuf promises him, reaching up to cup Nicky's blushing cheek. He leans in and smiles sweetly and Yusuf leans up to kiss him again because he simply cannot go without. He hesitates when he sits back again and bites his lip, rubbing his hand on Nicky's leg absently until the man himself sits up and lays his own palm on top. </p><p>He catches Yusuf's cheek this time, drawing his face up to meet his eyes. "Yusuf? If you would rather wait, or not at all... I would hardly deny you that choice."</p><p>"Oh, no. Well, it is only that I find myself in front of a feast with no earthly idea where or how to start. You are a treasure I am somewhat - foolishly! - afraid to touch."</p><p>"I could show you, if you like?" Nicky offers, pushing up until he's kneeling in front of Yusuf, kneecaps to kneecaps. "I have the experience to guide you."</p><p>Yusuf sighs, turning his head to kiss the broad palm covering the side of his face. "Will you show me how best to bring you pleasure, my heart? I would rather learn that than anything else. And only what you have the time and energy for! You still have to work after I leave you tonight."</p><p>"I will always have the energy for you!" Nicky protests. Then he colours, and Yusuf knows they're both thinking of the same thing - the first time Nicky had made it all the way across to Yusuf's rooms, only to fall asleep in an armchair within minutes and wake several hours later under a blanket, the sky darkening with sunset and a fresh pot of tea on the boil. Nicky had been ever so apologetic, frantically upset at wasting their time together, but Yusuf had done his best to reassure him of how utterly, wonderfully lovely it had been to be trusted with Nicky's tiredness. How truly domestic it had felt to spend time in his dingy, cramped rooms, his roommates gone and only Nicky's soft, peaceful breathing filling the space with him. A treat, he had called it, and pecked a kiss to Nicky's wrinkled forehead, enticing a small smile and a soft laugh out of him. </p><p>"Well," Nicky continues. "Perhaps not always, but you know what I mean."</p><p>"I do, my love, I do. And that is why I ask. If you would prefer to lie here and talk of... of the <em>future</em>-" they both sigh dreamily, clutching each other closer with a thrill of excitement at making concrete plans, "- then that is what we shall do. I can go without knowing you like that a little while longer."</p><p>Nicky kisses him, softly and slowly. He pulls back and presses their foreheads together. "I would love to do that. But I can happily do that anytime. We have all the years ahead to spend talking. But tonight you saved up for me Yusuf, you saved up for <em>us</em>, and now you are thinking of not allowing me to reward you with a gift of my own?" The words are a fond tease that Yusuf weathers with a wry grumble and a grin. "I desperately want to feel you, not only to thank you for everything but because..." he leans in close to Yusuf's ear, "I <em>want</em> you." </p><p>"Truly?" Yusuf whispers back, even though he knows the answer. The question is more of a reflex than anything he has truly been wondering about. </p><p>"Truly. Madly, desperately. I love you very much, my Yusuf. I would like to feel you against me as well. One day without barriers, without noise downstairs and more of my shift still to come. One day we will fall asleep beside one another afterwards and wake in each other's arms for more-"</p><p>He is cut off by Yusuf's eager lips, and the momentum sends them both back onto the bed, laughing and kissing and curling tight around each other. Nicky pushes Yusuf into place on his back and sits up over him, a vision in red and blue and black, rich colours and fabrics that highlight his pale skin and eyes, the dark mark on his jaw, the brown of his tied back hair, already escaping its ribbon. An angel on earth, Yusuf might say, although Nicky would laugh and decry the comparison. But he is just that. </p><p>Nicky bites his red lip and lifts Yusuf's hands, one by one, to bracket his waist over his corset. They shift without needing to be shown how, up and down and around, exploring the combination of hard and soft underneath. The corset is solid, boned well, and snugly fitted, but the silk that covers it feels like warm water and gives way to cotton and skin at the edges. The crinkle of lace trimming the top is a strange contrast that scrapes Yusuf's fingertips when they brush past, eliciting a soft sound from Nicky that he hasn't heard before. He repeats the movement again, noting that just as the lace scratches over his fingers, it is also scratching over Nicky's nipples, pink and raised. Delicious, if Yusuf says so himself. </p><p>"May I?" he asks breathlessly, sitting up to help Nicky find his balance astride his lap, leaning in with his mouth towards the top of the corset. Nicky looks down and nods, running his hands over the back of Yusuf's head and drawing him in towards his chest, cradling him there. "Oh, Nicky..." Yusuf murmurs, before setting to. He laves his tongue over the lace, tasting the slight mustiness of it, from being worn so frequently and often drenched in sweat. Perhaps not the most delightful taste, but Yusuf hardly cares. He is too busy teasing both of them by using the lace as a proxy for the sensitive skin beneath. </p><p>Nicky groans quietly and presses his chest into Yusuf's face a little more insistently. He begins urging him on with soft words when Yusuf caves, pulling the corset down and peeling the lace back just enough to get in and pay full attention to each of those patiently waiting nipples, one by one. He soothes them with his lips, suckling gently to make Nicky exhale shakily, rubs circles with the flat of his tongue to keep them stiff and straining. Nicky curses a little when he rubs the lace back over the first after his mouth has moved onto the second, hips shifting around restlessly on Yusuf's lap. Yusuf keeps his arms wrapped around the small of Nicky's back and waits for Nicky to draw him up with tender hands on his jaw, stealing the air from his lungs with a kiss unlike any other. </p><p>"Nicky," Yusuf murmurs against his lips, slipping his hands down to Nicky's arse, buried under his skirts and bloomers. </p><p>"Yes, please," Nicky agrees, still caressing his face and head, pressing ardent kisses over his cheeks and bearded jaw while Yusuf plucks at the skirts, pulling them up in great handfuls to find a way in beneath them. They allow him in after a fair bit of searching, and to Nicky's audible amusement Yusuf cheers a little, flexing his hands over the warm swell that awaits. "You are a funny man," Nicky tells him fondly. "I love you."</p><p>"I love you," Yusuf replies. "But perhaps we could remove the skirts entirely, they are far too involved in our private moment..."</p><p>Nicky laughs, a full, loud laugh that comes out only ever so often and never fails to stun Yusuf into silent, wide-eyed awe. Nicky knows what that look means by now - after a few uncertain occasions at first - and just pecks him on the cheek before climbing off the bed and fiddling with the fastenings that keep the skirts sat on the waist of the corset. They drop in a heap under their own weight when freed and Nicky steps out, drop-dead gorgeous in his bloomers, stockings, boots and corset, and nothing else. </p><p>"I want to take these off as well," Yusuf tells him in a rush, throbbing in his own trousers at the sight and reaching for one booted foot. "I'll help you put them back on, my love. Only I would quite like to feel your heels on my back, your ankles against mine, rather than the boots. Perhaps we cannot quite be entirely bare with one another just yet, but partway is better than nothing at all!"</p><p>"And you are also a romantic, and you enjoy the tease," Nicky tells him primly, before falling to soft giggles. "Of course, my love. Anything you like."</p><p>"Lie back, my heart?" </p><p>Nicky lounges comfortably, still on Yusuf's coat, and smiles when Yusuf lifts his foot into his lap, kneeling halfway down the bed. He stops smiling only to bite his lip when Yusuf lifts his foot up to his face and kisses the side of his calf, just above the line of the boot, without breaking eye contact. He pops each button out excruciatingly slowly, but he has paid for them to take their time tonight and he intends to do just that. It is a strange experience, slipping a boot off someone else's foot, but the way Nicky sighs in relief without really noticing, and then hums and flushes when Yusuf runs a hand over and under his foot, pressing his thumb into the arch briefly, makes it quite enjoyable. </p><p>"That is wonderful," he says, nudging the other foot into Yusuf's hands with a hopeful smile. Yusuf obliges immediately and removes the other boot a little faster, so that he can run his hands over the stockinged feet as much as he likes, massaging until Nicky groans and melts back into the bed happily, proclaiming him to be not only a godsend but perhaps a demi-god of some description himself, with hands as blessed and talented as they are. Yusuf is not immune to flattery, and is only too content to continue making his way slowly up Nicky's legs, leaving them loose and relaxed on either side of him by the time he reaches Nicky's thighs. Nicky lifts his head up then, blinking down at Yusuf and pointedly shifting them apart to tease with that lovely gap in his bloomers again, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth. </p><p>"Beautiful," Yusuf tells him, not stopping his massage, turning to his thighs. Lovely, thick things with plenty of strength and a delightful soft curve to them, especially when splayed out flat. They shift under his hands, not quite as work-hardened as his own, certainly far from as lean. But beautiful, tempting, and spectacular nonetheless. And from his thighs... </p><p>There is only so much further up Yusuf can go before that parting beckons him, calling him sweetly in. He doesn't want to undo all the effort he has put into relaxing Nicky's muscles, so he shimmies down onto his belly and pulls at the fabric, humming to himself as he peeks inside. </p><p>Nicky muffles a noise and shifts, but stays where he is while Yusuf gazes his fill, watching the way Nicky's cock twitches under the weight of his own eyes, the way his balls have already drawn up a little, and the way the slick gleams around his entrance. Nicky even whines, when Yusuf's breath puffs inside the garment and over his skin, littering his innermost thighs with goosebumps. </p><p>"Yusuf..." he pleads, a hand falling down to Yusuf's hair and tugging, a request. "Please Yusuf. Show me yourself as well? I want to see you, I want us to be even and equal always."</p><p>"Always, my heart, always. Would you like to undress me?" </p><p>"Oh, <em>please</em>?" Nicky breathes, nodding. Yusuf rearranges to sprawl beside him on his side, waiting for Nicky's clever fingers to reach over and pluck at his waistcoat and shirt, baring the undershirt and suspenders beneath like a gift being unwrapped. His belt follows next, and Yusuf toes his own shoes off so that he can shuffle out of his trousers and lie down a little self-consciously beside his beautiful love in his underwear, socks and undershirt. The suspenders being taken away had made Nicky pout a little, something Yusuf had noted for another time, as had the loss of the shirt that had drawn Nicky's touch for a moment or two. "You always call me beautiful, and yet..."</p><p>"And yet nothing," Yusuf scoffs. "You are beautiful. There is no comparison to be made between us - you are a shining jewel, a treasure beyond compare. I am- well it is quite big-headed of me, but I am aware that despite my general scruffiness I am not ugly."</p><p>"Ugly!" Nicky cries, smacking him softly on the shoulder. "Certainly not! You bring my heart to flame with your soul and my body to flame with your looks, Yusuf. I want you very, very badly."</p><p>"Is that so?" Yusuf teases, propping his head on his hand with a smirk. Nicky rolls his eyes and pushes him over onto his back, settling back on his thighs again and pinning him by the shoulders. He bends to kiss Yusuf, but stops before he can make contact. He even moves away when Yusuf tries to lean up, eyes twinkling with mischief. "Oh my heart. Have mercy!"</p><p>"To anyone that besmirches my Yusuf, no mercy," Nicky replies, shaking his head. The ribbon finally gives up the ghost and falls, leaving his hair a little wild and enticing. Yusuf just has to sink his fingers into it and pull the laughing Nicky back down for a proper kiss, rolling them yet again and bearing Nicky down into the bed, startlingly aware of how very few layers remain between them. </p><p>He kisses Nicky's lips one last time and then makes his first tentative move towards something more, rolling his hips carefully down into Nicky's. </p><p>The man below him gasps and his knees clamp against the outside of Yusuf's thighs reflexively. "Do that again?" he asks, and Yusuf does. "Again," Nicky pleads, and another time, and another, devolving into a shaky moan when Yusuf picks up the rhythm, rocking them against each other, seeking a slow, languid kind of friction that still trembles with a withheld tension. Holding back, ready to surge forwards like horses at the start of a race, but Yusuf does not want to race or rush, and Nicky is equally as on board it seems. </p><p>"Just like this," he sighs, stretching out beneath Yusuf and hooking a leg behind one of Yusuf's, keeping them close as they move. Yusuf trails his fingers up the underside of a bare arm, from bicep to wrist to palm, as Nicky stretches it up above his head, shivering from the touch. They link their fingers, threading them together on the pillow, and join for another long kiss. </p><p>Nicky is the one to change their pace in the end. After a long time - possibly only a few minutes, but it feels like more - of simply moving together, he nudges at Yusuf's cheek with his nose and asks, "would you like more?" </p><p>Yusuf would. Most definitely. "Yes," he says, strangled, and waits for Nicky's lead. Nicky smiles at him, pleased, and turns them despite Yusuf's pout. </p><p>"It will be better this way, this time," he promises. "Next time I will happily lie on my back and let you play above me, my love. It is a delightful view. But for now... let me?"</p><p>"Anything you desire," Yusuf tells him earnestly. </p><p>Nicky sits over him after sitting him back against the head of the bed, at a half-upright angle. Then he slowly peels Yusuf's underwear down, and holds his breath. "Oh," he whispers, reverently, exhaling again in a rush. "You're- there's no-"</p><p>"Is it bad?" Yusuf frets, but Nicky shakes his head quickly. </p><p>"Not at all, I simply don't see it often. It is very pretty," Nicky assures him, and the tone of his words soothe Yusuf into believing him, because there is nothing but desire and honesty in it. "Can I touch you with my mouth? Or will my hands be all today?"</p><p>"Oh, I would beg for both, but I would very much love to have your hands... Your mouth is a special treat for another time, my heart."</p><p>"Kiss me?" </p><p>"Come closer."</p><p>Nicky's hand is as deft as Yusuf had always known it would be, wrapping around his cock and drawing curling waves of pleasure out on breathy whines. Yusuf hitches into each touch, unbelievably aroused from all of the built-up tension. </p><p>"I won't last... Will you finish with me? We have time..." he begs Nicky, mouthing over the beauty mark on his jaw to help his case. Nicky just nods, shifting so he can pull his own cock free of his bloomers and take them both in hand. Yusuf can only watch for a moment before the whole image threatens to melt his very spirit into a puddle. Besides which; he is quite eager to get his own hand on Nicky's equally lovely cock himself. Uncut, and prettily sheltered by the foreskin that rolls very nicely under his palm. It seems to delight Nicky when he plays with it a little, using both of his hands because once he starts touching, he simply cannot stop. Nicky's sack is right there, and his hole is just a little further back, and Yusuf's hands are desperate and greedy to know what they feel like, to know the weight and texture of every inch of Nicky's body, to be able to recognise these most intimate parts of Nicky by touch alone. </p><p>"You- Yusuf!" Nicky cries, knees working to move his body in a smooth roll that thrusts up into Yusuf's circled palm and down onto his questing fingers. "Touch me, however you like Yusuf, however you want just touch me, I'm yours- <em>oh sweet heavens-</em>"</p><p>He spills unexpectedly, into Yusuf's hand and onto his body. Some splatters onto the skin between the bottom of his undershirt and his own cock, landing in the hair there, and some makes it a little higher onto the shirt itself. "Beautiful," Yusuf croons, squeezing his fist a little more firmly for Nicky to rut into as his release washes through him in its entirety. </p><p>For his part, it is the sight of Nicky's dazed eyes opening to gaze at him as he pants that sets him off like an inferno. A true little death, and just from Nicky's hand! Spectacular doesn't begin to cover it. </p><p>"You look rapturous," Nicky tells him as he pants back into his corporeal form, squinting up at the vision above him. He seems mostly recovered from his own end already, breathing a little hard and softening in Yusuf's hand but more or less composed. Yusuf feels like melted cheese, but Nicky must see something he likes - he bends to nuzzle at Yusuf's face and press kisses into his beard. He falls onto his side, a leg still draped over Yusuf's lap in a move that is both possessive and utterly comfortable. </p><p>He would quite like to be with this man forever, Yusuf decides then and there. They have already agreed to make a future together but he sees, suddenly, the years that remain to them. Wrinkles and afternoons with rain on windows, shared cups of tea and early mornings sleeping lightly side by side. Simple things, growing old and happy together. </p><p>"What is it?" Nicky asks, seeing his expression. Yusuf shakes his head, but leans in to kiss him as tenderly as he can before hugging Nicky tight to his chest. He rests with him cradled against his heart, their breathing falling into step together.</p><p>"I love you. I am impatient to start the next part of our lives together," he says quietly. "This has been a brilliant start, but having you all to myself, in the daylight hours?"</p><p>"Oh please," Nicky chuckles. "As though you aren't a night owl. I will be the one to hardly see you, I predict it now."</p><p>"I will be up every morning to bring you breakfast in bed!" Yusuf protests, or proclaims. Proclaims sounds better, he thinks. Nicky hides his grinning face in Yuusf's beard. </p><p>"No, my love, you won't. But you are free to try and prove me wrong. I would quite enjoy that experiment I think."</p><p>"And I suppose you are the quintessential early bird then?" </p><p>"I used to be," Nicky agrees, stroking his hand over Yusuf's shirt. He winces when he feels the drying spend at the bottom. "Oh, Yusuf you didn't say! I've ruined your shirt!"</p><p>Yusuf rolls his eyes. "Not in the slightest. It only needs a rinse clean."</p><p>"Let me-"</p><p>"No, I insist you stay there. Besides, I was looking for an excuse to take it off and this is as good as any. If you-"</p><p>"Yes," Nicky interrupts. "Yes. Take it off."</p><p>Yusuf scrambles to obey, nudging Nicky away to pull the soiled shirt over his head and fling it somewhere off the bed. He lies back down under Nicky's gaze, lifting a hand up behind his head, showing off a little. He feels handsome, when Nicky looks at him like this; lean rather than skinny, rugged rather than unkempt, and proud of his body. </p><p>"You have been hiding from me," Nicky mutters, sweeping his palm over Yusuf's front and resting it over his belly. He traces his fingers around Yusuf's bellybutton with a soft expression that Yusuf understands. For now the corset is an obstruction - a lovely, alluring one, but an obstruction still - to what Yusuf would probably call the <em>real</em> most intimate parts of Nicky. The parts no one else sees, the parts most hidden from the world at large. In bathrooms and brothels, the so-called privates are proven to not be especially private at all. But there is something vulnerable and special about baring the belly. Something primal even, from years of instincts demanding they be protected from the world. Some ancient instinct that says that this is intimacy above the rest. </p><p>Yusuf is particularly looking forward to seeing what Nicky looks like under his clothes. He hopes and prays that the shape of his thighs and hips and arse are an indication of further decadence to enjoy further up. The corset hides the truth and the mystery makes it all the more thrilling. </p><p>"Kiss me," Yusuf asks, overcome by emotion. Nicky spreads his fingers, palm warm and wide, and kisses him. He has such broad hands, Nicky. Broad shoulders too, highlighted by the pinch of the corset at his waist. Yusuf loves every glorious inch from top to toe and will gladly dedicate himself to making sure Nicky knows as much until the days run dark and dim. Until his voice grows hoarse from it, and even then he will try. </p><p>"I love you," Nicky murmurs against his lips. Yusuf murmurs it right back, and they kiss and kiss and rest together, gathering strength to love each other some more. They have time for it after all, tonight and all their shared nights to come.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>In honour of apparently zigzagging through the chronology of this little world, the next chapter I end up writing, if I do end up writing it and don't get dragged back into Majickey filth hours, will potentially be how these two lovebirds met! Any other ideas for scenes in the world are very welcome as well :))))</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Yusuf and Nicky's First Meeting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Travelling back, we see the first meeting between these two ridiculous lovebirds.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is the softest thing ever. I made <em>myself</em> soft with it, I hope I make you all much the same way!</p><p>Unbetaed but hopefully still acceptably readable :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>The day had been dull and grey, the sky heavy with clouds and impending rain. The sunset hadn't been spectacular, just a darkening of the sky that ended in night falling over the busy city of London. An unassuming start to an average evening in the life of Yusuf al-Kaysani, cab driver and unrepentant romantic.</p><p>Yusuf was a dreamer at heart, and spent many long hours ferrying the wealthy folk of London around with his head lost in thought, imagining great stories and wonderful lives he could live happily in, while his physical body had to sit on the cab and keep his horse going in the right direction. Even in wind, rain, sometimes snow, Yusuf could escape and dream up a place where he was warm, in the arms of a faceless other soul that would resonate with his own. Someone who would <em>be</em> his world, more than enough for him to escape into, to escape with. He hardly hated his job, only perhaps the hours he had to put in and the bad weather he often had to suffer through, but that did not mean he couldn't long for something more.</p><p>And someone to share it with.</p><p> </p><p>It is on that unassuming evening after the typically overcast and wintry day, that Yusuf brings a young gentleman over Topham and Ware, to the Ladies' Lace brothel. He parks, collects his fare, and squints up at the sky while the gentleman disappears into the establishment. It looks like rain, and although the hour isn't particularly late, he has done good business throughout the day and wonders if he couldn't perhaps retire early for once.</p><p>It is on that unassuming evening, while Yusuf is checking on his horse and weighing up the options, that a voice calls out from the direction of the brothel.</p><p>"Oh, what a lovely horse!" the voice says, coming closer. Yusuf startles, turning around. His eyes are blessed by a vision approaching — a man, or so it would seem, with a thin shawl draped around his broad shoulders, that just about covers his corset and temptingly short skirts, only barely clearing his knees at the front. His face is soft and warm with a smile, lopsided and genuine, and he has beautiful pale eyes that crinkle over at Yusuf.</p><p>Yusuf, the cab driver, the dreamer, falls in love on the spot.</p><p>"Does she have a name?" the lovely man asks, reaching his side and lifting a hand to stroke the horse's velvety nose, glancing over at Yusuf curiously. "Do you speak English?" he tries uncertainly, when Yusuf forgets to respond at all.</p><p>"Oh, yes!" Yusuf quickly replies, telling himself sternly to be civil, at the very least. "My apologies, I just have never seen…"</p><p>The man shifts, pulling his hand back, and drawing the shawl tighter around himself. "What?"</p><p>"An angel, here on the cold, hard ground."</p><p>"<em>Oh</em>," the man breathes, expression moving from surprised to bashful to pleased in turn. "Oh, you flatter me," he insists, reaching out to the horse again.</p><p>Yusuf quite abruptly feels a little jealous of his horse. "Not in the slightest, I think you might be the most incredible thing I have ever had the honour of beholding. Forget the horse's name, I must have yours."</p><p>The man looks at him with another smile, just as lopsided as the first but open now, showing off a few too many teeth. Yusuf's heart does a little flip in his chest. "My name is Nicky. And what is yours? I can't very well call you handsome stranger in my head."</p><p>"You could call me anything at all and I would welcome the sound of your voice, your attention on me."</p><p>"You are a charmer!" Nicky laughs, leaning in towards the horse and casting shy, yet curious eyes over at Yusuf. "I would still very much like to know your name, handsome charmer."</p><p>"Yusuf, my name is Yusuf."</p><p>"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Yusuf," Nicky says politely, holding a hand out. He seems utterly delighted when Yusuf picks it up and kisses the back tenderly. He smiles, blinking quickly, when Yusuf straightens up again but keeps hold of the hand, thumb gently stroking across the knuckles. "What brings you and your nameless horse here tonight?"</p><p>"I think I might call it fate," Yusuf suggests, entirely honestly. Nicky laughs softly, but goes quiet when Yusuf pulls him a little closer. "I am quite serious. I have dreamed of you, for such a long time. Well, not you exactly, but I think the heart of you. And here you are."</p><p>"Destiny."</p><p>"Pardon?"</p><p>"Not fate, fate has such an ill ring to it. Destiny, that you would come here tonight and I would have the urge to come outside at the exact moment you were stood waiting for me."</p><p>Yusuf nods eagerly. His face falls a moment later, into a frown, when he notices Nicky is shivering a little from the cold and his relative lack of dress. "Must you go back to work soon?" Yusuf wonders. Nicky glances back over his shoulder, craning his head to see through the crack in the curtains of the front window, and then looks back.</p><p>"I can wait a little longer. If they truly need me Booker will come and call."</p><p>"Booker?"</p><p>"Our bartender, and a great friend of mine."</p><p>"Will you be in trouble for dallying?"</p><p>"With Booker? Not at all! No, he is quite lovely, and there is not so much business out tonight that I will be noticeably missed a while longer. Why, what did you have in mind?"</p><p>Yusuf gestures with his hand towards his cab, opening the door and helping Nicky and his skirts inside. There is just enough room for them to sit side by side on the small bench, tucked up close together. Nicky hums, murmuring a thank you when Yusuf slips out of his coat and carefully sits it around his shoulders, to stave off the last of the chill. They share a few shy glances, before Nicky turns to him with a quick laugh, reaching for Yusuf's hands.</p><p>"This is silly, why should we feel shy?"</p><p>"I suppose it is because we hardly know each other," Yusuf shrugs, threading their fingers together and smiling at the sight it makes.</p><p>Nicky smiles at him. "The we should fix that."</p><p> </p><p>They spend long minutes in the cab, trading questions and answers, smiling and laughing and leaning ever closer together. Without interruption both privately thinks he could have continued that night forever.</p><p>Yusuf learns that Nicky comes from Italy, and works most nights in the brothel. He enjoys walking the parks and misses the sea, and particularly likes Yusuf's beard and long fingers.</p><p>Nicky learns that Yusuf comes from Tunisia but has travelled a fair amount over his lifetime, has a great passion for art but rarely the time or supplies, and is utterly enamoured of the beauty mark on Nicky's cheek and the way his accent shapes Yusuf's name.</p><p>They are unfortunately interrupted when the door to the brothel bursts open, and two men come out, chattering together. Yusuf helps Nicky quickly down from the cab, just as the gentlemen notice and request his services.</p><p>"I would like to see you again," Yusuf says, as the men climb into the cab, pulling his coat back on. It's still warm from Nicky, and he smiles, and sees Nicky smiling the same smile, which just sets them into beaming at each other.</p><p>"I would like that," Nicky agrees softly. "You know where to find me."</p><p>"I would not be intruding?"</p><p>"I would welcome such an intrusion," Nicky promises him. "Have a good night, Yusuf. I will send my thanks to destiny for bringing you to me tonight."</p><p>And then time slows, as beautiful, wonderful Nicky, whom Yusuf already adores with all his heart, leans in and presses a soft kiss to his bearded cheek.</p><p>Yusuf waits until he's safe and warm again inside the brothel, the door closing behind him, and then finally swings up into place and clicks his horse onward towards his next destination.</p><p>Not such an unassuming evening after all then, but an unforgettable one.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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